https://www.susanhelene.com/about daily 1.0 2025-04-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/f626ce96-987a-460c-84a2-dfc0058c48ab/IMG_8983.JPG https://www.susanhelene.com/contact daily 0.75 2026-09-09 https://www.susanhelene.com/musings daily 0.75 2026-09-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/c9b9ead8-0ab2-4a2c-91a6-52ca912c171f/finalcoverConnections.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/93280d77-86c1-421b-8e68-18cf80cb9889/IMG_0150.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/921e7f7b-5491-44a5-834a-01e139d55370/computer+mockup.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/1784679225894-IMV0SW6SYI2YJCKKC2SA/unsplash-image-sgIgF8xKY8o.jpg Musings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/c27d42f1-b3e7-4dde-8b7a-ae6286e7383b/publicationsphoto.jpg Musings Reading, Writing and Authoring Every Saturday, my sister, Anne, and I would make the five-block walk to the library. Cradled in my arms were the previous weeks bounty of ten picture books. Reading was an integral part of my family life. A common sight on weekends was my father, in his recliner, reading the latest Ian Fleming or John Le Carre, and the rest of the family scattered around our wood paneled den engrossed in their own literary journey. In college, I purposely took a Philosophy course just so I’d have an excuse to read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. I got into the pattern of reading all an author’s works: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Shakespeare, Poe, Thomas Mann, Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Steinbeck, and the poetry collections of Robert Frost, Yevtushenko, Ferlinghetti, among others. I still do this today. I have always read for the enjoyment of it. Now, as I strive to become a better writer, I find my reading has an added dimension. I find myself stopping to admire the writer’s craft, like John Steinbeck’s incredible beginning paragraphs of Of Mice and Men. We see the tortured landscape and know that the area is under stress. We know, without the characters saying a word, who they are and their relationship. It is powerful and beautifully written with no pretense, no embellishment. To me, it is writing at its finest. Today, as I write, I give credit to all the authors who joined me on this journey. I have learned much and enjoyed their creations even more. My path to writing started with reading, and I am grateful for the gifts these and other writers have shared with me https://www.susanhelene.com/news daily 0.75 2026-09-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/6c4eb750-1438-457b-baca-da2236439b20/The+Bookworm.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/f6239e7a-6f7c-4fcb-8304-6a0d7dfdcb92/audiobook.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/c9b9ead8-0ab2-4a2c-91a6-52ca912c171f/finalcoverConnections.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/69335ce1-9a6b-4fd9-b0a8-ee2102d7ee9a/cypresslibrary24.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/afac1519-61d5-4f45-8d9d-bbc71bcaad19/Susan+Helene+flier.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/1600357355291-OQUAOK54Y53YC2VHRXI6/MMColor9_200.png News The Sixty-First Day, a pandemic short story Check out Montana Mouthful Literary Magazine 8th edition October 19th, 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/fe43a5f2-7a16-4b10-95c1-f09af5b150b6/FINALNACK.COVER.png News https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/1598119773910-8PW8LHWFWAD4ALJQENDK/safe_image.jpg News Womenscape: Selected Stories of Eclectic Women by Susan Helene Publisher: Unsolicited Press Publishing Date: TBD https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/1604093708624-67T2XGMN5OTSNSAOK0S4/Survival+Tales+of+Pandemic.jpg News https://www.susanhelene.com/publications-1 daily 0.75 2025-07-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f3c13b9fe40380283604304/c27d42f1-b3e7-4dde-8b7a-ae6286e7383b/publicationsphoto.jpg